Grippable Building Brick Assembly

ABSTRACT

A grippable building brick assembly includes a panel has a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter edge. A perimeter wall is attached to and extends downwardly from the perimeter edge. The perimeter wall has a bottom edge. A female interconnection member is integral to the bottom side of the panel and releasably engages a male interconnection member from a building brick system. The perimeter wall has a pair of openings extending therethrough and extending upwardly from the bottom edge to the panel. The openings each are graspable by a person to facilitate disengagement of the female interconnection member with the male interconnection member.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE Field of the Disclosure

The disclosure relates to building brick devices and more particularlypertains to a new building brick device for facilitating the removal ofa relatively flat building brick from a building brick system byproviding a structure that is easily graspable.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above bygenerally comprising a panel has a top side, a bottom side and aperimeter edge. A perimeter wall is attached to and extends downwardlyfrom the perimeter edge. The perimeter wall has a bottom edge. A femaleinterconnection member is integral to the bottom side of the panel andreleasably engages one or more male interconnection members from abuilding brick system. The perimeter wall has a pair of openingsextending therethrough and extending upwardly from the bottom edge tothe panel. The openings each are graspable by a person's finger orfingernail, for example, to facilitate disengagement of the femaleinterconnection member with the male interconnection member.

Another embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above bygenerally comprising a panel that has a top side, a bottom side and aperimeter edge. A perimeter wall is attached to and extends downwardlyfrom the perimeter edge. The perimeter wall has a bottom edge. A femaleinterconnection member is integral to the bottom side of the panel andis configured to releasably engage a male interconnection member from abuilding brick system. The perimeter edge includes a first edge, asecond edge, a third edge and a forth edge such that the first andsecond edges are positioned opposite of each other. A juncture of thefirst edge and the perimeter wall forms an acute angle in the perimeterwall such that the first edge defines a graspable edge.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the disclosure in order that the detailed descriptionthereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that thepresent contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There areadditional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features ofnovelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out withparticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than thoseset forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description thereof. Such description makes referenceto the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of a grippable building brickassembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment of the disclosuretaken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a top perspective in-use view of an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a bottom perspective of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through6 thereof, a new building brick device embodying the principles andconcepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated bythe reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6, the grippable building brickassembly 10 generally comprises a panel 12 that has a top side 14, abottom side 16 and a perimeter edge 18. A perimeter wall 20 is attachedto and extends downwardly from the perimeter edge 18. The perimeter wall20 has a bottom edge 22. The panel 12 may have a length and width eachbeing between 0.4 inches and 3.0 inches. The perimeter wall 20 has aheight typically between 0.075 inches and 2.0 inches. As one example ofthe assembly 10, the top side 14 may be planar and defined as having nostructures extending upwardly therefrom. As explained further below,being planar may allow for indicia 24 to be easily printed on the topside 14.

A female interconnection member 26 is integral to the bottom side 16 ofthe panel 12. The female interconnection member 26 is configured toreleasably engage one or more male interconnection members 28 from abuilding brick system. Building brick systems utilizing similarstructures for frictionally coupling together toy bricks are ubiquitousin the toy arts and are found in multiple references such as U.S. Pat.No. 3,005,282. These toy bricks may be found, for instance, being soldunder the names Lego and Duplo. Generally, the male interconnectionmember 28 includes one or more male protrusions that extend upwardlyfrom an upper surface of the toy brick. In the present case, the toybrick may be provided in the form of an enlarged plate 30 having aplurality of male interconnection members 28 thereon such that numerousones of the assemblies 10 may be engaged with the plate 30. The heightof the perimeter wall 20 may be equal to the height of the maleinterconnection members 28 such that the male interconnection members 28abut the bottom side 16 of the panel 12. The plate 30 will typicallyhave a size such that multiple ones of the assemblies 10 may bepositioned thereon to form words, phrases and the like with the indicia24 positioned thereon. The female interconnection member 26 includes oneor more recesses 32 for receiving the male interconnection member 28that would be found on the plate 30. The recesses 32 may be formed inany conventional manner. FIGS. 1 depicts one type of femaleinterconnection members utilizing a cylinder wherein the recesses areformed between the cylinder and the perimeter wall 20. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 5, the female interconnection member 28 will be surroundedby and engage four male interconnection members 28. While the top side14 is shown in the Figures and described above as being planar toprovide for indicia, it should be understood that male interconnectionmembers 28 may also be positioned on the top side 14 such thatadditional building bricks from the building brick system may bepositioned on the assembly 10.

The perimeter wall 20 has a pair of openings 34, 36 extendingtherethrough and extending upwardly from the bottom edge 22 to the panel12. The openings 34, 36 each are configured to be engageable with aperson's fingernail, or a tool, to disengage the female interconnectionmember 26 with the male interconnection member(s) 28. Generally, theassembly 10 will comprise a low profile, tile like, building brick. Theopenings 34, 36 form a gripping edge for more easily removing lowprofile type building bricks of the assembly 10. Generally, buildingbrick systems utilizing low profile building bricks are often difficultto remove from each other as there is little to no material to grip. Thegripping edge is graspable with a person's finger or fingernail to urgedisengagement of the female interconnection member 26 from the maleinterconnection member 30.

The perimeter edge 18 includes a first edge 38, a second edge 40, athird edge 42 and a forth edge 44 such that the first 38 and second 40edges are positioned opposite of each other. The openings 34, 36comprise a first opening 34 positioned adjacent to the first edge 38 anda second 36 opening positioned adjacent to the second edge 40 such thatthe first 34 and second 36 openings are positioned opposite of eachother. This ensures that one of the assembly 10 openings may begraspable from multiple angles. The perimeter wall 20 includes a firstwall 46 extending downwardly from the third edge 42 and a second wall 48extending downwardly from the fourth edge 44. The first opening 34 mayextend from the first wall 46 to the second wall 48 and the secondopening 36 may extend from the first wall 46 to the second wall 48 suchthat the first 34 and second 36 edges are essentially free of anydownwardly extending walls.

Furthermore, each of the first 46 and second 48 walls has a firstlateral edge 50 and a second lateral edge 52. Each of the first 50 andsecond 52 lateral edges defines free edges of corresponding ones of thefirst 46 and second 48 walls. Though not essential for the assembly 10,each of the free edges may be angled inwardly from the panel 12 or topside 14 thereof to the bottom edge 22. This will form acute angles inthe first 46 and second 48 walls where the first 46 and second 48 wallsjoin the panel 12. This shape is easily graspable to further enhance theability to remove the assembly 10 from the plate 30.

In another embodiment of the assembly 10, as shown in FIG. 6, theopenings 34, 36 may not be provided and instead a continuous perimeterwall 20 is utilized. This embodiment will still include the acute angles56 such wherein the acute angles 56 provide graspable edges 54regardless of whether or not the openings 34, 36 are provided. However,the assembly 10 will include at least the openings 34, 36 or the acuteangles, where the first 38 and second 40 edges join the panel 12, toensure that the graspable edge 54 is formed in the assembly 10.

In use, the assembly 10 may be positioned on the plate 30 as determinedby a person playing therewith. The top side 14, as stated above, mayinclude indicia 24 so that word games, for instance, may be played withmultiple assemblies 10 without movement by the letters or symbolsrelative to the plate 30. The shape of the perimeter wall 20 and itsaccompanying openings 34, 36 allow the assemblies 10 to be removed moreeasily from the plate 30 to increase the enjoyment of using planartopped building bricks which would otherwise be difficult to remove fromthe plate 30. Moreover, while the assembly 10 is generally a buildingbrick in that it may be used with building brick systems, the uniqueshape of the panel 12 allows it to essentially function as a removabletile positionable on the plate 30 for forming artistic works such asmosaics and the like.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodimentenabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials,shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, aredeemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and allequivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings anddescribed in the specification are intended to be encompassed by anembodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of thedisclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used inits non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word areincluded, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. Areference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not excludethe possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless thecontext clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

1. A building brick assembly configured to engage and be easilydisengaged from a brick system, said building brick assembly comprising:a panel having a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter edge, aperimeter wall being attached to and extending downwardly from saidperimeter edge, said perimeter wall having a bottom edge, said top sideof said panel is planar; a female interconnection member being integralto said bottom side of said panel, said female interconnection memberbeing configured to releasably engage a male interconnection member froma building brick system; and said perimeter wall having a pair ofopenings extending therethrough and extending upwardly from said bottomedge to said panel, said openings each being configured to be graspableby a person to disengage said female interconnection member with themale interconnection member.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The building brickassembly according to claim 1, wherein said perimeter edge includes afirst edge, a second edge, a third edge and a forth edge such that saidfirst and second edges are positioned opposite of each other, saidopenings comprising a first opening positioned adjacent to said firstedge and a second opening positioned adjacent to said second edge suchthat said first and second openings are positioned opposite of eachother.
 4. The building brick assembly according to claim 3, wherein saidperimeter wall includes a first wall extending downwardly from saidthird edge and a second wall extending downwardly from said fourth edge,said first opening extending from said first wall to said second wall,said second opening extending from said first wall to said second wall.5. The building brick assembly according to claim 4, wherein each ofsaid first and second walls has a first lateral edge and a secondlateral edge, each of said first and second lateral edges defining freeedges, each of said free edges being angled inwardly from said top sideto said bottom edge.
 6. (canceled)
 7. A building brick assemblyconfigured to engage and be easily disengaged from a brick system, saidbuilding brick assembly comprising: a panel having a top side, a bottomside and a perimeter edge, a perimeter wall being attached to andextending downwardly from said perimeter edge, said perimeter wallhaving a bottom edge; a female interconnection member being integral tosaid bottom side of said panel, said female interconnection member beingconfigured to releasably engage a male interconnection member from abuilding brick system; and said perimeter edge including a first edge, asecond edge, a third edge and a forth edge such that said first andsecond edges are positioned opposite of each other, a juncture of saidfirst edge and said perimeter wall forming an acute angle such that saidfirst edge defines a graspable edge.
 8. The building brick assemblyaccording to claim 7, wherein a juncture of said second edge and saidperimeter wall forming an acute angle in said perimeter wall such thatsaid second edge defines a graspable edge.
 9. The building brickassembly according to claim 7, wherein said top side of said panel isplanar.